The hand may take over from the remote control
Technology moves away from remotes, mice and joysticks to control household gadgets. Introducing the hand
Technology moves away from remotes, mice and joysticks to control household gadgets. Introducing the hand
Fighting over who has the remote control could be a thing of the past as computer experts reveal plans to move away from TV remotes and joysticks to something that requires no wires or batteries. The hand.
Big names like Microsoft and Hitachi will be selling special devices that allow people to flip TV channels or control their computers just by making simple hand gestures.
It's like a scene from the 2002 blockbuster movie Minority Reports, where Tom Cruise famously moved images and documents around on futuristic computer screens with a few sweeping gestures.
Experts promise the real life technology heading our way won't be that different.
Following successful demonstrations at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, Vincent John Vincent, the co-founder of GestureTek - a company that makes software for gesture devices - said: ‘Everything is finally moving in the right direction.'
In comparison to Wii, which requires hypersensitive hand-held controllers to translate body movements into on-screen action, gesture powered devices require nothing ore than the human body.
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According to computer insiders, the gesture revolution is likely to go mainstream later this year when Microsoft releases a new video game system known at this time as Project Natal and will be in shops soon.
At the same time, TVs from Hitachi in Japan that allow people to turn on their screens, scan through channels and control the volume with simple hand motions will be hitting the market.
Laptops and other computers should also arrive later this year with built in cameras that pick-up similar gestures, making today's touch-screen tools obsolete.